Hotline #884 - June 30, 1995

There was a meeting aimed at ironing out problems with H.R.1788, the Amtrak reauthorization bill, yesterday. Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster (R.-Pa.), Railroads Subcommittee Chairwoman Susan Molinari (R.-N.Y.), and subcommittee member Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.) attended. It is not apparent that any progress was made.

Quinn authored two pro-labor amendments whose adoption in committee caused Shuster to pull the Amtrak bill from consideration. Shuster and Molinari think Quinn's amendments would fatally damage the bill on the House floor. Also, Shuster is unlikely to bring to the floor a bill with key provisions he does not support.

Now Shuster has asked his Senate counterparts to postpone their work on a Senate Amtrak bill. Also, Shuster and Molinari wrote to Transportation Secretary Pena yesterday asking him to prepare plans for an orderly shutdown of Amtrak on October 1.

The House Appropriations Committee approved its 1996 transportation funding bill today, apparently with no harm to Amtrak. The bill is expected on the House floor July 12. If authorization problems remain unresolved, Amtrak funding could be struck from the bill. Therefore, Members of Congress -- especially Republicans, and especially those who voted against Shuster in committee -- should be urged to tell Shuster and Molinari they want the bill to move and that they are willing to consider changes to the bill that make that possible.

Amtrak has confirmed that the Sunset Limited is likely to be rerouted away from Phoenix, Tempe, and Coolidge, perhaps by the end of the year. The Southern Pacific may downgrade the line west of Phoenix. Amtrak says it cannot afford the $27 million in upgrading costs requested by the SP, or the $2.5 million in annual maintenance costs.

The new route saves 44 miles and about two hours. There may be a stop at Casa Grande with Phoenix bus connections. State intervention could prevent Phoenix from becoming the nation's biggest metro area without passenger trains, but this is a long-shot.

The Interstate Commerce Commission announced on June 27 an interim decision in the rate dispute between Amtrak and Conrail. Amtrak's annual payments would increase by about $750,000 a year, which Amtrak had said was reasonable. Conrail wants an increase of $5.5 million. The ICC expects Amtrak and Conrail to continue negotiating while it continues work on the larger question of payment formulas.

The Amtrak board met June 28 and meets next in Los Angeles on July 20 and 21. The board approved leasing 13 RoadRailers for a demonstration project with the U.S. Postal Service to carry mail from northern New Jersey to Kansas City, going by rail from Philadelphia to Chicago and St. Louis. Also, some retired Heritage coaches would be converted to baggage cars to carry additional mail.

The Missouri Mule trains return tomorrow. Promotion will include a media event July 10, and -- from July 10 to 20 -- a 30% discount good for travel Monday-Thursday.

Amtrak is working on contingency plans in the event of a possible strike on Metro-North after July 15.

A lawsuit against Amtrak was filed June 8 in U.S. District court in New Haven by 50 home and business owners in southeastern Connecticut to stop all Amtrak work in their area, including the electrification. The Justice Department will handle the defense. Because of the strong environmental review, Amtrak does not expect lawsuit-related delays.

Amtrak will introduce a new inventory code July 18 to cover carriage of bicycles on the Capitol Corridor and on the Mount Rainier. Some sort of reservation system is needed because of the limited bicycle space on the trains, but it is not yet clear if there will be a reservation charge.